LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelfgff 1 2£ 

— — — t~fi'O r i 

UNITED STATES OF AMfcfef CA. 



THE LITTLE PREACHER ; 



OR, 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 



BY HIS FATHER, 

Rev. JAMES HOBBS, 

Southern Illinois Conference. 

Also author of " The Bible Keepsake— Holiness unto the Lord.' 1 



" Even a little child is known by his doings, whether his work 
be pure, and whether it be right."— Prov. xx, 11. 
"A wise son maketh a glad father."— Prov. xv, 20. 



REVISED AND ENLARGED EDIT-tOSf^ 

MAY 26.18&1 



v °^o... ^-y 



l*0...\P.~f.\f. 

B. S. HOOD, LITCHFIELD, ILL. 
1881. 



^ 



3 1881 I 



JBKmf 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by 

JAMES HOBBS, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



\ 



CONTENTS 



Chapter I. 

PAGE. 

Place and time of birth and death — Age — Begins 
to study — Reads — Attention to preaching — 
Felt he was a preacher — Never to be presi- 
dent — Books read — Takes a paper — Playful 
nature — Writes letters and sermons, . . . . 1 

Chapter II. 

Temperance worker — Pledge — Writes for paper — 
Another pledge — A third — Temperance lec- 
ture — Avoiding the very appearance of evil — 
Scrap-book — Work for little ones — Missionary 
spirit, 6 

Chapter III. 

Writes poetry — Is a good singer — Twenty-third 
psalm — Jesus loves me — Could not keep from 
singing all the time nearly, 11 

Chapter IV. 

Declamation — Starry heavens — Lamb and kitty — 
Little things, 14 

Chapter V. 

Averse to bad language — Child of prayer — Prays 
in need — Tender conscience — Scriptural faith — 
Baptism — Takes sacrament — Do likewise — 
Closet prayer, 16 



IV CONTENTS. 

Chapter VI. 

PAGE. 

Order and system — A preacher — Serious play — 
Bishop Foster — Sermons and prayers — Sample 
of prayer, 20 

Chapter VII. 
Three sermons : Boasting, Decision, Giving, . . 24 

Chapter VIII. 

Moody's example — Sermon: St. John i, 29 — The 
doctrine of this sermon, 28 

Chapter IX. 

Mingled exercises — Studious habits — Thanks at 
table* — Prayers in family — Sabbath school and 
its literature — List of books and papers read, . 34 

Chapter X. 

Selects pa a text — Circuit preacher — Farwell ser- 
mon — Preaches perfection — Annual conference 
— Opening sermon, 38 

Chapter XI. 

Pa's circuit — Jimmie's interest in meeting — Con- 
version of the dear child — Happy songs, . . 41 

Chapter XII. 
Deep interest for brother and sister — Pleads with 
Edwin — Writes to Lilly — Prays for both — Sor- 
row and disappointment — Selects a hymn for 
his pa, 45 



CONTENTS. V 

Chapter XIII. 

PAGE. 

Cries aloud for Eddie — Letter to Lilly — Post- 
scripts — Stars in his crown, 49 

Chapter XIV. 

Watch-meeting — Full connection — Lung fever — 
Sleigh ride — Last sickness — Disease progresses 
— Speaks of dying to his mother, 54 

Chapter XV. 

Wonderful utterances concerning death — Lines of 
the destroyer seen — Innocent sufferer — Talks to 
his pa and tells us all u good bye" — " Come on, 
ma" — Jesus is coming — His last words — He 
dies .59 

Chapter XVI. 
Hope beyond — Shining mark — Tender Savior — 
Scrap-book selections — Watching and waiting — 
Singing in glory. 66 

Chapter XVII. 

Sweet story — Little one's favors — First years — 
Little Minnie's verse — Jimmie's verses, ... 72 

Chapter XVIII. 
Bible verses — Love of flowers — Plans for the 
future — Jimmie's weight — Ideas of riches — 
Knowledge of the world — Eschews evil — Sor- 
row for wrongs — Earthly and angelic music — 
Let us win souls to Christ — His mother's hope 
and song, 75 



VI 



CONTENTS, 



Chapter XIX. 

PAGE. 

Edwin's present, now a keepsake — Obituary — Bro. 
Harris' letter — Bro. Thompson's letter — Burial 
— Meet again — Lilly's letter, 81 

Chapter XX. 
Funeral sermon — Hymn sung — Farewell ode, . 88 



Chapter XXI. 

Conclusion — An appeal to the readers of the 
book, 



92 



PEEFACE. 



Having for nearly eight years and a half held the 
endearing relation of father to the beloved subject of 
the book now before you, knowing that every state- 
ment found in these pages is a fact to the very letter, 
and earnestly desiring both to memorialize and per- 
petuate the extraordinary incidents of the life and 
character of the lovely child of which the present 
volume treats, and to bring souls to Christ and heaven 
by plainly picturing to them the manner in which he 
lived, acted, studied and died, I do not think that a 
generous, intelligent, reasonable and reading public 
will expect of me any apology for u broadcasting it 
o'er the land." I confess that in past years of my life 
I have read histories of unusually mature children 
with many doubts and criticisms, and have known 
persons to go to extremes in this direction to which 1 
never have gone. But since he has lived that has 
lived, and he has moved that has moved, and he has 
died that has died, of whom I have written, under 
my own eyes, in my own house, and of my own 
offspring, I am now fully prepared to say that those 
may be true; this one is true. It has been written 



Vlll PREFACE. 

with close application and great care, although, when 
it is now finished, he has not been gone from among 
us quite six weeks. To me and my family the writing 
has been a solemn exercise, and it has not been 
written without many tears. And now, under the 
blessing of God, may it go forth bearing precious 
seed; and may, O may its influence come again, 
bringing in the sheaves as stars to deck the immortal 
crown that will sit upon the brow of the precious 
"Little Preacher." 

James Hobbs, 



THE LITTLE PREACHER; 



OR, 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 



CHAPTER I. 



Little Jimmie Hobbs, the very remarkable 
subject of the following pages, was born in 
Armington, Tazewell county, Illinois, July 
27, 1870. His death, which was as wonder- 
ful as his short life, took place in Middle- 
on, Wayne county, Illinois, January 9, 
879, at the age of eight years, five months, 
md twelve days. Into this short interval of 
Mine he crowded scenes and events that 
would have done honor to the life and char- 
acter of a man of twenty-five or more years. 
His body was always feeble, but his mind 
and heart were beyond those of a child from 
the very earliest that could be noticed of 
him. He was possessed of a very retentive 
memory ; this was noticed by his mother 



THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 






when he first began to talk. When he was 
three and a half years old his half-brother 
and sister, Edwin and Lilly, gathered up 
their books and set off for school. He, see- 
ing them, also got a book and told his ma 
he would learn too, and of his own accord 
began with the letters. Every little while, 
pointing to a letter, he would say : " What 
is that, ma?" She would just answer him, 
and as little more as possible, thinking he 
was rather young, then, for a student. But, 
as incredible as it may appear, in three days, 
even by this mode of study, he knew every 
letter. Without any loss of time and in the 
same manner, he proceeded to spelling, and 
then to reading. It soon appeared to us, and 
we were advised by many friends, that we 
would be compelled to limit him in his atten- 
tion to books, which we did very much on 
account of his delicate state of health. Often 
the little boy was laid on a bed of sickness, 
from which it was doubtful whether he would 
recover — once or twice, or perhaps three 
times a year, for every year of his brief stay 
with us. But, notwithstanding all this del- 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. O 

icacy, he was reading in from two to four 

weeks. And about this time, to the great 

surprise of the rest of the family, he read 

distinctly, as follows, from his little First 

Reader : 

Paul Fay is a small lad. His hair is dark. His eyes 
are blue. His face is fair. Paul is not a bad boy. He 
is kind to his cat, his dog, and his goat. All his pets 
love him. Spot is the name of his dog. Spot has big 
eyes and long ears. Paul is fond of him. When Paul 
is sent to school, Spot will go too. He will take the 
lunch in a pail and <^o by Paul's side. 

This description of Paul Fay was really a 
very fair picture of his own appearance and 
disposition, and delighted him very much, 
no doubt, on that account. 

In the year 1873 he gave his first atten- 
tion to preaching when the good old brother, 
F. D. Taylor, was preaching; and after- 
wards, at home, he would imitate some of 
his stormy gestures. His very first in- 
clinations were to be a minister, and these 
feelings never left him. It seemed to be- 
come impressed upon his mind that he was 
a preacher, indeed. One day he was riding 
with his brother in a buggy, and his brother 



4 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

said to him : " Now you play that you was 
a preacher, and I will bring you up to this 
man's house." With the greatest earnest- 
ness he looked at him and said: "Why 
Eddie, I don't have to play I was a preacher, 
for lam already a preacher ." 

His grandmother Hobbs once wrote in a 
letter to us that if our little boy continued 
his diligence and proficiency in reading and 
other things, she thought "he would cer- 
tainly get to be president." But he was 
surprised, and said: "Ha, I ain't ever 
going to be president, for I am a preacher, 
and you must tell her so, pa, when you 
answer that letter;" and you may be very 
sure I did so, and with a good deal of 
pleasure, too. And it was not with just a 
little pleasure that grandma read the an- 
swer. 

With the exception of the restraints before 
spoken of, his reading went on, and before 
he was six years old he had read the First, 
Second, Third and Fourth Headers, sixteen 
small Sabbath school volumes four or five 
times over ; Pilgrim's Progress, Night 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 

/Scenes in the Bible, a large book of more 
than five hundred pages ; Line upon Line, 
Precept upon Precept, Daily Bread, and 
also, regularly, by course, he had read the 
Bible, as far as to the Book of Psalms. 
Besides this he had read a great variety of 
religious papers. When between five and 
six years old he paid for and carefully read 
a little paper called The Christian Child, a 
very pure little publication, and, therefore, 
very congenial to his taste. 

But let not the persons who peruse these 
foregoing pages suppose that reading was 
his only employment. He was fond of play, 
and there was a good share of childlike, in- 
nocent fun in his nature ; and yet he did not 
seem to engage in play altogether as a child. 
When about five years old he began to write 
little letters to his ma while sitting in the 
same room with her ; and many were the 
letters she received from those little hands. 
He wrote to his pa, to his brother and to his 
sister in the same way ; and then he wrote to 
distant relatives, to his little paper, and he 
wrote sermons. 



THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR 



CHAPTER II. 

For one of his years he was a great tem- 
perance worker and reformer. He raised 
what he called his "Cold Water Army," 
which numbered one hundred and three 
names, under the following pledge : 

We, whose names are written below, do pledge 
ourselves to drink no kind of strong drink while we 
live. 

When he was five and a half years old he 
wrote this communication to his little 
Christian Child, and it was published in its 
columns : 

The persons who belong to the Church who do not 
want to live religious, but would rather sell whisky, I 
think they ought to be turned out of the Church. The 
Bible says: " Woe be unto the pastors that destroy 
and scatter the sheep of My pasture, saith the Lord." 
I am getting all I can to sign the pledge. They ought 
not to sell any kind of whisky. They ought not to 
have it about the house. We ought not to drink any 
whisky, but many do drink what we never touched. 
So we may be thankful that we never took a drop of 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 7 

the vile stuff. I am five and a half years old ; have 
subscribed for the Christian Child, and my name is 

JlMMIE HOBBS. 

On the 6th day of January, 1877, he wrote 

the following pledge in his little diary : 

I will never touch, taste nor handle whisky in my 
life. I will, in my life, never go to a dance. Amen. 
There is a reason why : First — Because it is wrong, 
and Because God hates it. I will watch and speak 
right, and do right, and feel right in every way. 

And his parents, and brother, and sister, 
and friends, felt assured that thus he lived, 
and grew stronger in these principles all the 
time. They governed his little life. About 
the same time he wrote this pledge : 

I will never chew tobacco or smoke it. I will never 
touch, taste, or handle tobacco. There is a reason why : 
1. Because God hates it. 2. Because it is wrong. 
This is true, mind you.* 1 ®! 

With very great earnestness and zeal he 
often delivered little lectures on temperance. 
Here is one among his first ones : 

If you want to ruin yourself, get drunk. If you 
want to spoil your face, get drunk. And if you want 
to fall in the mud, get drunk ; but if you want to go 
to heaven, let it alone. Never touch it. 

When he was sent through town on an er- 
rand to the store, or post-office, or elsewhere, 



8 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

he would not pass near a saloon door, but 
would invariably cross to the opposite side of 
the street till he was bv, and then cross back 
again. In like manner, in reference to all 
similar things, having an eye to the counsel 
of the wise man, he acted in harmony with 
it, as follows : "Enter not into the path of 
the wicked, and go not in the way of evil 
men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it 
and pass away." Pro v. iv, 14, 15. 

He brought nearly to completion a good 
sized and very interesting scrap-book. The 
selections for this purpose were entirely his 
own, and they are all characteristic of his 
own mind and heart. Among them are such 
as these : Temperance Pledge ; The Power 
of Love ; A Mother's Cares ; Eeligion not a 
Hindrance, but a Help ; Be on Time ; Birth- 
day Reflections ; Prayer ; Peace ; The Better 
Home ; Learn a Little Every Day ; Have 
Courage to say No ; Life ; Hope ; Patience ; 
The Bible ; Watching and Waiting ; Time on 
the Wing ; Must Have Christ ; The Love of 
God ; Mark this, Boys ; A Kiss for a Blow, 
etc. Scores of others might be mention- 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. V 

eel, and, truly, all are worthy, both of my 
writing and your reading, if your time and 
my space woulel permit. But instead of car- 
ryingTihis any further, I will give you one 
piece in full, as it so perfectly sets forth the 
programme of the precious little life, now no 
more on earth. The title of it is : 

WORK FOR LITTLE ONES. 

There is no little child too small, 

To work for God ; 
There is a mission for us all, 

On each bestowed. 

Tis not enough for us to give, 
Our wealth alone; 
We must entirely for Him live, 
And be His own. 

Though poverty our portion be, 

Christ will not slight 
The lowliest little one, so he 

With God be right. 

The poor, the sorrowful, the old, 

Are round us still; 
God does not always ask our geld, 

But heart and will. 

Oh ! how true a picture of what he him- 
self was, is the above poem. Though very 
small, yet he did so work for God. He felt 
that he had a mission in the world, and a 
charge to keep, bestowed upon him from 



10 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

above. Of his pocket change, though it was 
never very much, he gave liberally. His in- 
clination generally was to give at one time 
all that he had on hand, lest he should not 
live to meet another opportunity. He seemed 
to just live for God, to labor for God, and to 
belong to Gocl. Though his lot was not cast 
among the rich, yet Christ did not slight 
him. Little Jimmie sympathized with the 
sorrowing ones around him, and always was 
ready with heart, and will, and little mite, to 
alleviate their sufferings ; born in deed and 
in truth with the true spirit of a missionary. 






LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 11 



CHAPTEK III. 

Jimmie would sometimes write poetry. I 
will here insert his first little production of 
this kind, because it is so innocent and child- 
like, and because it is such real, poetical his- 
tory of himself. I will give it just as we 
found it, and as he had left it. 

TOYS. 

There was a boy, 
Who had many a toy. 
He had a little car, 
But it did not have tar. 

But he had a little cat, 
To what was said scat; 
And it caught rats, 
And got lots of pats. 

He had a soft, sweet, melodious voice, 
and was a delightful singer. He would sing 
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, gener- 
ally. The first psalm he ever committed to 
memory and sung, was the twenty-third in 
verse, as follows : 

The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want 

He makes me down to lie 
In pastures green ; He leadeth me 

The quiet waters by. 



12 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 

My soul He doth restore again: 

And me to walk doth make 
Withm the paths of righteousness, 

& en for His own name's sake. 

Y Yet^jf7 alk thr -^ h death ' s dark "tie, 
•i et will I fear none ill ; ' 

^or Thou art with me, and Thy rod 
And staff, me comfort still. 

My table Thou hast furnished 

In presence of my foes : 
My head Thou dost with oil anoint, 

And my cup overflows. 

Goodness and mercy all my life 
Shall surely follow me ; 

™ in a ° d ' s house forevermore 
My dwelling place shall be. 

I will now give you the first hymn he 
ever knew, and which he learned to sing 
altogether by hearing others ; so that every 
word, and every syllable, was each one in its 
proper place, and the tune was distinctly 
and sweetly carried. And this he did at 
the age of three years : 

Jesus loves me! this r know, 
For the Bible tells me so. 
Little ones to Him belong, 
They are weak, but He is strong-. 

Yes, Jesus loves me, 
Yes, Jesus loves me, 
Yes, Jesus loves me, 
The Bible tells me so. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 13 

Jesus loves me ! He who died, 
Heaven's gates to open wide, 
He will wash away my sin, 
Let His little child come in. 

Yes, Jesus loves me, etc. 

Jesus loves me ! loves me still, 
Though I'm very weak and ill ; 
From His shining throne on high, 
Comes to watch me where I lie. 

Yes, Jesus loves me, etc. 

Jesus loves me! He will stay, 
Close beside me all the way ; 
If I love Him, when I die, 
He will take me home on high. 

Yes, Jesus loves me, etc. 

The songs that he sung cannot very well 
be numbered, because they were so con- 
stantly woven into his every dav life ; and 
it would be equally as difficult to say which 
of all that he did sing was his favorite, for 
all good songs thrilled his very soul with 
delight, and he would sometimes say to his 
ma: "These songs make me feel so hap- 
py." I verily believe, as nearly as any- 
body ever did, " he felt like singing all the 
time," and " how could he keep from sing- 
ing?" as pure as the current of his young 
life was. 



14 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 



CHAPTER IV. 

He often committed pieces from books 

and papers, and would declaim them. The 

first exercise of this kind he ever engaged 

in was when he was about three years and 

eight months old. And his first piece was 

this : 

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, 
How I wonder what you are; 
Up above world so high, 
Like a diamond in the sky, etc. 

He would go through the entire piece. He 
did wonder a great deal about what the stars 
were. He would ask hard questions about 
them and the moon, and the sun. His at- 
tention might have been drawn and his cu- 
riosity excited in that direction to a great 
extent by his own naturally outreaching ob- 
servation, assisted, perhaps, at times, by a 
beautiful little vesper song his mother would 
often sing to him, just at nightfall, as they 
would sit together and look up to the starry 
plains of a clear sky. The song begins thus : 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 15 

Beautiful star, in heaven so bright, 
Softly falls thy silvery light; 
Upward my spirit's pinions fly, 
To realms of love beyond the sky. 

After he learned a little poem beginning : 
"Mary had a little lamb," he become the 
possessor of a small kitty, the name of which 
was "Dick," and often and often, he would 
put his name in place of "Mary," and the 
kitty's name in place of the word "lamb," 
and then with this change he would go over 
the verses to see how that would sound. 
And to his little ears it would be very funny 
and interesting. And, I will say, interest- 
ing to myself many times, as well as to some 
others, and, now that he is gone, more so 
than then. But, dear reader, do you pause 
and say, these are little things? Well, I 
know they are little things ; but I began on 
purpose to write of little things, and yet they 
are such as I now love, and of such is my 
sorrowing heart now full. And I remember 
that it has been truly said : 

* Little drops of water, 

Little grains of sand, 
Make the mighty ocean 
And the beauteous land. 



16 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 



CHAPTER V. 

The dear one of whom I am now writing 
would spend a portion of time very pleas- 
antly with a little neighbor boy, provided he 
would use no bad language ; but would in- 
variably leave his company, come straight 
into the house and make a full statement of 
the whole affair to his mother, if his little 
play-fellow should depart from the use of 
right words, and then his play would be over 
for that time. 

He was pre-eminently a child of prayer. 
From the time he first began to speak plain- 
ly (which was very early, before he was two 
years old) he was taught to kneel down and 
say, on retiring at night: 

Now I lay me down to sleep, 
I pray the Lord my soul to keep ; 

If I should die before I wake, 
1 pray the Lord my soul to take. 

On rising from his bed in the morning his 
words of prayer always were these : 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 17 

Now I wake and see 'tis light; 

'Twas God that kept me through the night; 

To him I lift my voice and pray, 

That He would keep me through the day. 

Besides this, he constantly used the Lord's 
prayer, as well as a few sentences of origi- 
nal prayer in addition. Whatever he desired 
or was anxious about, it grew to be his cus- 
tom to pray about it. He realized that he 
had a great friend in Jesus, and he very 
faithfully and confidently carried everything 
to Him in prayer. I will give you here a 
few instances of this trait in his character. 
He was naturally very timid and fearful in 
time of a thunder storm, and often at such a 
time he would slip away to some little spot 
to himself, and there he would pray for 
safety, and then he would appear perfectly 
easy and say, " I'm not afraid now." At 
one time he had a little kitty which he valued 
very much, but it ran away from him and 
never returned, and he was very sad over 
the loss of it. But in the course of time he 
got another, and then he was always afraid 
that some day it would be missing like the 
other one. So when it would be gone out 



18 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

too long to please him, he would go and pray 
about it, and then when it would come he 
would say, " Ma, my prayer is answered." 
He kept that one while he lived and it is 
with us yet. His conscience was very quick 
and tender at the slightest touch of sin. 
Whenever he thought he had done wrong he 
would go and pray to God to forgive him, 
and then, and not till then, he would feel 
happy as before. Oh ! how scriptural is such 
faith as this ! And is it not the true faith 
of a child to believe that God will give all 
consistent blessings sought for ? And again , 
are not older persons taught to have and ex 
ercise this same child like faith, where 
Jesus says: " Except ye be converted and 
become as little children, ye shall not enter 
into the Kingdom of Heaven" — Math, 
xviii, 3. 

In August, 1874, he was baptized by 
sprinkling at a quarterly meeting by the 
hand of Rev. C. D. Lingenfelter, Presiding 
Elder. At that time he asked his mother if 
he could take the Lord's Supper. He was 
allowed this privilege the rest of his life, for 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 19 

he seemed to fully understand its meaning, 
and heartily to receive its benefits. 

Oh ! will not many, both of young and old, 
who read this book be led by it to live and 
do in very many things as our dear heavenly 
minded little one did? I hope and trust, I 
desire and pray to God for them, that they 
will. And if they do, whether they livelong 
or die soon, when the summons of death does 
come, I am fully persuaded that in great 
peace they will be permitted to gather up 
their feet and follow him to glory. 

Once, when reading the Bible, the follow- 
ing words received his close attention : "But 
thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy 
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, 
prav to thy Father. which is in secret; and 
thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward 
thee openly." Matt, vi, 6. 

For two years together we lived where 
there were two snug little closets. To the 
one on the right of the fire-place he inva- 
riably resorted, and, shutting the door, held 
his private devotions. 



20 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 



CHAPTER VI. 

Let me now pause a moment, dear reader, 
to say what, perhaps, I have not }^et said, but 
ought to have said before this time. It is 
this : order and system, a place for every- 
thing, and everything in its proper place, 
seemed always as natural to him as to live. 
His playthings and his library of books, of 
both of which he had collected a fair variety, 
considering his opportunities, were always 
arranged with the greatest regularity and 
precision. 

All of these employments which I have be- 
fore mentioned, were always regularly and 
constantly kept up ; but the main business of 
his life as he himself viewed it and as it seem- 
ed to observers, of which he made full proof, 
was that of a preacher. And he did preach ; 
by his earnestness, by his innocency of life, 
by his actions, by his serious and dignified 
appearance, and last, but by no means the 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 21 

least, by his own little pithy sermons, con- 
densed, forcible, simple and appropriate in 
expression. He was, in his own mind, an 
itinerant Methodist preacher, having charge 
of circuits and stations, until he gradually, 
though rapidly, rose to the presiding elder- 
ship, and then, at last, to be a bishop. He 
had his own little stated and protracted 
meetings ; his own quarterly, district, annual 
and general conferences. From the time 
that he was four years old to the end of his 
life, he had a feeling that he was a preacher 
of the gospel, and it was a deep, and, I am 
compelled to think, a religious feeling. 

A brother once said to me, on learning 
how he did : "I would not allow a child of 
mine to play after that manner." I told him 
that his playing seemed to me so serious and 
so religious that I could not find it in my 
heart to stop him. And I want to say right 
here, that I was greatly confirmed in this 
feeling by a statement made by Bishop 
Foster, in the Conference Love Feast, at 
Centralia, in the fall of 1875. He told the 
number of years he had been preaching, and 



22 THE LITTLE PREACHEft 3 OR, 

said that he commenced when live years old, 
among his little play-fellows ; was convicted 
then, converted and joined the church some- 
time afterwards ; was licensed to exhort at the 
age of thirteen ; licensed to preach at fifteen ; 
joined the conference at eighteen ; said " he 
had been preaching ever since ; and that he 
knew nothing else than to be religious, and 
to be a Methodist preacher." In my little 
boy's sermons, the sentiments he uttered 
were sound, his Scripture quotations were 
correctly given, his manner was emotional, 
fervent and tender, and the petitions of his 
little prayers were such as must have reached 
the ears of the Most High. 

He never did make light of good and 
sacred things ; and now that he is so early 
gone, and so happy too, I feel that I have 
abundant reason to thank God that I never 
tried to stop him in these exercises. 

I will now, in the next place, give a sam- 
ple of his prayers, when he was holding one 
of his meetings, without the knowledge that 
any one was near enough to hear him : 

"Oh! Lord, make me more like Thee. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 23 

Oh ! Lord, give me anew heart. Make me 
to keep Thy statutes. Oh ! Lord, Thou 
knowest that I have a wicked heart. For- 
give my sins, forever and ever. Amen." 



24 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OK, 



CHAPTER VII. 

On the same occasion that the above prayer 
was used he preached the following sermon : 
Prov. xxvii, 1. Boast not thyself of to- 
morrow, for thou knowest not what a day 
may bring forth. Now, my text is true, as 
you have no reason to boast of to-morrow, 
for you do not know what a day or an hour 
or a minute will bring forth. And, then, to- 
morrow never comes. And you may die 
before another day. Yes, you might die this 
day, this hour, this moment. Now, will you 
still boast? Will any of you boast again? 
Don't do it, I say ; don't do it. God says 
to-day; will any of you say to-morrow? 
God says now ; will we say some other time? 
Yes, man says tarry; but God says escape 
for thy life. 

At another time he prepared and preached 
the following discourse, from First Kings 
xviii, 21. Before reading his text he said : 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 25 

This is the golden text. And then he gave 
it : How long halt ye between two opinions? 
If the Lord be God, follow Him ; but if 
Baal, then follow him. What if I was going 
to give you one of two books : one Mr. 
Moody's hymn book and one his sermon 
book, and you did not know which you 
wanted the worst? There you halt. Just the 
way with us, and goodness and badness. We 
don't know which one we want the worst. 
We take badness and go down there. There 
you halt. Oh ! take goodness and go up 
there. You may think there are a good 
many there. There you halt. You halt 
here. But it may do you good. Oh ! take 
God for your God. God said : What you 
do, do quickly. Are you on God's side? 
Will you halt, or will you not? Folks have 
been sick ; promised to do better ; told a lie, 
and halted about it. 

When this little preacher was about six 
years of age he preached this as a mission- 
ary sermon, from Acts xx, 35. 

" It is more blessed to give than to re- 
ceive." "While we give to others, we 



26 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 

make them happy and ourselves too. But 
we are the most blessed, for my text says, 
' It is more blessed* to give, than to re- 
ceive.' We are called upon to give as the 
Lord prospers us. To their bodies, bread, 
meat, clothing, and drink; to their souls, 
spiritual food, or scriptural instructions ; 
tell them the story of the cross, or give 
them some tea ; or give them an almanac, 
if they have none ; give them a pair of 
boots, or a pair of shoes ; or give them 
some potatoes, or tomatoes, or give them 
some sweet potatoes ; give them a pair of 
socks ; or give them a broom if they want 
one." 

With the thought of giving in his mind, 
or the idea of benevolence suggested by his 
text, this was a kind of an off-hand sermon 
or extemporaneous discourse, as his eye 
would fall upon an object around the 
room, or as he would think of some article 
which he had seen the stewards bringing to 
us for quarterage, he would speak of it in 
his sermon, such as boots and shoes, socks, 
and broom, potatoes, etc. The almanac he 



1 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 27 

mentions, was suggested to his mind by the 
Rev. Joseph Harris, our Presiding Elder, 
making him the present of a Methodist al- 
manac. 



28 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The above sermons which I have given, 
are fair samples of the contents of his 
crowded sermon-box. Some of them are 
mostly made up of verses quoted from vari- 
ous parts of the Scripture, the others, with 
one single exception, are wholly original. 
Mr. Moody says when he gets hold of an- 
other man's sermon that is really good, he 
goes right home and preaches it to his own 
congregation. Little Jimmie followed this 
example in regard to one sermon, and I will 
insert that sermon below because he had 
every word of it committed to memory, 
and, at the age of eight years he delivered 
it with great power and zeal. The text is 
found in St. John i, 29. ' 'Behold the Lamb 
of God, which taketh away the sin of the 
world." 

Your bodily eye cannot see Him, but the 
Spirit of God can give an eye to your soul, 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 29 

by which you may look unto Him and be 
saved. May the blessed promise be fulfilled 
in you. "They shall look upon Me whom 
they have pierced." May you have the grace 
to look! Behold then the Lamb of God. 

First. — With an eye of penitence see in 
His suffering, in His death and agony, in the 
convulsions of nature which accompanied 
it, the trembling earth, and the darkened 
sun, see what a fearful thing sin is, sin 
which has taken up its abode in your heart ; 
and seeing this, let that heart be touched, 
that stony, insensible heart be affected ; let 
the tears of Godly sorrow* gush forth evi- 
dencing a repentance to salvation not to be 
repented of. 

Second. — With an eye of faith. Believe 
that He is both able and willing to save 
you. Doubt not the power of His Spirit to 
quicken and purify your soul. Throw your- 
self on Him ; He will receive you. He will 
save you. That "He came into the world 
to save sinners," and that "His blood 
cleanseth from all sin," is a "faithful 
saying, and worthy of all acceptation." 



30 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

Third. — With an eye of gratitude. What 
a benefactor you have in Him ! Blessings 
infinite, purchased at the price of infinite 
sufferings ; and all for you, poor guilty sin- 
ner ! For your pardon, peace and eternal 
life procured, and offered without money, 
and without price, awaiting your acceptance 
by faith. 

Fourth. — With an eye of love. Here is 
a manifestation of love without limit, and 
without end ; the Love of God in Christ. 
God is love ; Christ is love ; and the soul 
which loves not the Savior, who came and 
died to save sini\ers, is dead to every right 
feeling, and exposed to eternal ruin. 

Fifth. — With an eye of joy. To procure 
joy for you He endured the cross, despis- 
ing the shame. His desire is to make you a 
sharer in the jo}^s of a good conscience and 
an eternal hope — living a holy life on earth, 
and, after death, having a mansion in the 
heavens. Behold, then, with joy, the Lamb 
of God. Behold Him ye careless ones, who 
make a mock at sin, and to whom sin is as 
a sweet morsel in your mouths. Oh ! how 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 31 

will that sweetness be changed into gall and 
wormwood when those mouths shall be 
parched with thirst, and not one drop of 
water allowed to cool them and slack the 
consuming fire which preys upon them ; when 
instead of sounds of debauchery and ungodly 
riot, there will be heard only the cries and 
lamentations of the lost. "To-day, if ye will 
hear His voice," to-day, while there is still 
time, ye careless ones, "behold the Lamb of 
God." Behold him, ye who are going about 
to establish vour own righteousness. Vain 
and thankless task ! Why labor at it any 
longer? Away with those robes of self-right- 
eousness with w^hich you are striving to 
cover your souls. They are filthy rags ; they 
cannot hide your nakedness. Throw them 
aside and look unto Christ, and then, as His 
saints, He will array you in fine linen, clean 
and white, of His own righteousness, in which 
you will shine throughout eternity. 

Behold Him, ye who are weary and heavy 
laden with sin. He cries to you, "Come unto 
Me and I will give you rest." He can relieve 
you of your burden and soothe all your sor- 



32 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; Oil, 

rows. He died to save them that were lost. 
He was wounded for our transgressions. He 
was bruised for our iniquities. Look then to 
Him. Go to Him, and "ye shall find rest 
unto your souls." Behold Him, ye faint- 
hearted disciples who shrink from reproach 
and suffering, for His name's sake. For you 
He has borne the world's reproach ; for you 
He has suffered even unto death. Are you 
soldiers of the cross? Are vou followers of 
the Lamb? And do you expect to meet in 
this world neither storms to try you, nor 
enemies to combat? Do you think to wear 
the conqueror's crown without the conquer- 
or's hazard? Be ashamed of your timidity ; 
of your cold, calculating spirit. Rouse your- 
selves and prepare manfully for the strife, 
for "The disciple is not above his Master." 
Behold Him, all of you, for He is the "Lamb 
of God which taketh away the sin of the 
world." 

There is set forth in the above sermon : 
entire sanctification, holiness to the Lord, 
purity and innocency of heart and life, the 
blood cleansing from all sin, etc. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 33 

He would go through with this entire ser- 
mon with great emphasis and solemn feeling, 
and with the eloquence of a natural orator. 
And I have often known preachers, and 
merchants, neighbor women, and visitors, to 
secure a hearing, as they supposed, without 
the knowledge of the sweet little preacher. 
Sometimes he would discover them, and 
though it would somewhat embarrass him, he 
would summon up a degree more of courage, 
and preach right on. 



34 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 



CHAPTER IX, 



His sermons, his reading, his writing, his 
singing and his prayers, we*e all mingled 
continually, day after day, with system and 
natural precison. He was often busied, and 
was always ready to engage in doing little 
errands and chores for the other members of 
the family with the greatest alacrity and de- 
light. He never attended a week-day school 
in his life. He never needed to be asked or 
urged to read or study, but rather to be 
checked and restrained, or he would protract 
his reading and study hours, beyond the en- 
durance of the little body, his eagerness for 
books was so great, his hungering and thirst- 
ing for knowledge, sacred knowledge, was so 
passingly wonderful. 

When he was about four years old he 
asked the privilege, as he then called it, to 
say the prayers at the table. And fearing 
that in him "the Spirit's course we might 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 35 

restrain," we, with a mutual agreement, 
consented, and it was a proposal entirely 
originating with himself ; I mean without any 
other human agency. As consent was given 
he repeated these words : " Praise ye the 
Lord ; praise the Lord, O, my soul. While 
I live will I praise the Lord ; I will sing 
praises unto my God while I have any 
being." Psalm cxl, 1-2. 

Soon after he began this practice a similar 
request was made by him, all unlooked for 
by the rest of us, concerning prayers at the 
family altar. Consent was freely given at 
once, and as it was just at the moment of 
prayer, we all kneeled down, and he pro- 
ceeded in the use of the Lord's prayer. And 
for more than a year he continued his 
thanksgivings at the table and his prayers at 
the altar. He generally desired me, or his 
ma, to alternate with him in these exercises. 
His prayer in the family was uniformly: 
" Our Father which art in heaven ; hallowed 
be Thy name ; Thy kingdom come ; Thy 
will be done in earth as it is in heaven ; give 
us this day our daily bread ; and forgive us 



36 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 

our debts, as we forgive our debtors ; and 
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
from evil ; for Thine is the kingdom, and the 
power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." 
When any person or persons would be pres- 
ent more than our own family, he thought 
proper to, and always would silently give 
way for his pa, or perhaps a friend. Al- 
though he had never attended a week-day 
school, as I have already stated, yet he was 
a very studious and proficient Sabbath school 
scholar. Whenever it was thought to be 
practicable, he was permitted to be in attend- 
ance. When this was not the cnse my little 
diligent one knew his Sabbath school lesson 
anyhow. For tw T o years he kept pace with 
the Sabbath school lesson papers. The 
Sunday School Gem was received and very 
carefully and diligently read by him duripg 
his last two years. He left these lesson 
papers and Gems, with Sunday School 
Advocates, and scores of other similar read- 
ing matter carefully and neatly stored away 
in a box which he kept and used for that 
purpose. For four years he was a constant 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 37 

reader of the Ventral Christian Advocate 
and the Christian Instructor. Before he 
ceased reading, by the closing of his little 
earthly career, in addition to all that I have 
before mentioned, he had reread the 
Pilgrim's Progress and the Night Scenes in 
the Bible, had read Lectures to Children, 
Golden Treasury, McGuffy's Fifth Reader, 
Moody's Words, Work and Workers, 
Methodist Discipline, Minutes of the Annual 
Conference, year by year, Moody's Book of 
Anecdotes and Illustrations, a paper called 
The Christian Woman, for two years, every 
copy from beginning to end, his own little 
paper, and finished the entire Bible twice, 
regularly through, and the third time as far 
as the thirty-sixth chapter of Exodus — this 
chapter was read on Friday morning, the 
third day of January, 1879. And besides 
what is above written he read for nearly four 
years, morning and evening, with the rest of 
the family at worship time, and it was always 
our practice to read regularly through the 
Bible, each one reading a verse in his or her 
turn. 



38 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 



CHAPTER X. 

He very often selected passages of Scrip- 
tare for me to preach from. The first one 
that I can remember was : Hosea, tenth 
chapter, twelfth verse, and third clause : 
" For it is time to seek the Lord." I used 
this when he was present, by his special re- 
quest, in the fall of 1877. 

During the last four years he never seemed 
to be without the impression that he was an 
itinerant preacher. He supposed himself in 
charge, successively, of the Hoodville, New 
Haven, Belle City and Belknap circuits. 
When his year closed at Belle City he 
preached his people a very touching and 
appropriate farewell sermon, using for his 
text second Corinthians xiii, 11. "Finally, 
brethren, farewell. Be perfect ; be of good 
comfort ; be of one mind ; live in peace ; and 
the God of love and peace shall be with 
you." Here again he preached " Christian 






LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 39 

Perfection." His closing thought in this 
sermon was, that if this should be their last 
farewell on earth, he wanted them all to 
meet him in heaven. He then supposed his 
congregation to join with him in singing this 
verse : 

When my final farewell to the world I have said, 

And gladly lie down to my rest; 
When softly the watchers shall say, u He is dead,*' 

And fold my pale hands o'er my breast, 
And when with my glorified vision at last 

The walls of that city I see ; 
Will any one then at the beautiful gate, 

Be waiting and watching for me? 

In about three short weeks this verse, 
from its beginning to its ending, was ful- 
filled to the uttermost. After it was sung 
he then gave out the appointment for the 
new preacher ; exhorted the people to a 
faithful Christian life, and as to the manner 
he hoped they would receive and sustain his 
successor; then sung: "Praise God, from 
whom all blessings flow," etc., and pro- 
nounced this benediction, which was the only 
one he would ever use : "The grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." 
The year's work now being closed, attend- 



40 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

ing conference was the next business in reg- 
ular order. His little annual conference, 
according to his appointment some months 
before, was supposed to meet at the city of 
Alton, Illinois, on the 19th of December, 
1878. His report was "that a very agree- 
able and pleasant session was enjoyed, and 
the work which was assigned to him was the 
Belknap charge." He immediately entered 
upon his new field of labor and on the 23d 
of December, 1878, he preached his opening 
sermon from Acts x, 29. "Therefore came 
I unto you, without gainsaying, as soon as 
I was sent for. I ask, therefore, for what in- 
tent ye have sent for me?" This was the 
last serman he ever preached, with the ex- 
ception of two or three at his little protracted 
meeting between Christmas and New Year's 
day. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 41 



CHAPTER XI. 

At the regular session ot the Southern 
Illinois Annual Conference, which met at 
Alton, Madison county, Illinois, September 
25th, 1878, I was appointed to the Belknap 
circuit, but was so situated at that time as to 
be compelled to resign that work. After- 
wards my Presiding Elder proposed to me 
that I accept the Middleton circuit, which I 
did, and on that work, during the month of 
December, 187-8, we had a very gracious re- 
vival of religion in Middleton class. The 
weather was quite severe, the church build- 
ing large and uncomfortable, and little 
Jimmie's health not being very good, he was 
not at the meeting much until the 27th of 
the month. He and his mother had been at 
home mostly up to that time, but his deep 
interest in the progress and welfare of the 
meeting was distinctly seen from its very 



42 THE LITTLE PREACHER : OR 



commencement. He was talking to his 
mother from time to time about it, inquiring 
at every opportunity, and anxiously and 
often praying about it. When I would 
return from a meeting which he did not 
have the privilege of attending, he would 
meet me at the door with the questions : 
"Well , papa, what kind of a meeting did you 
have to-day? Anybody converted? Any 
one join the church?" Or, perhaps, after I 
would get seated, he would come to me and 
get upon my knee, and make a great many 
very anxious inquiries. 

We always thought that we paid a good 
deal of attention to our little prattling loved 
one, but now we feel as though we did not 
read all those moving lines deeply enough. 

He grew more and more devotional all the 
time. As swift as a post, he was running in 
the way of the testimonies and statutes of 
the Lord ; and also speedily going the way 
of all the earth. But now ! how can we 
look back and see the plainer, deeper marks 
of his brief life among us ; and how, in the 
last two or three months, he did so surely 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 43 

and rapidly mature for heaven and immortal 
glory. 

On the night of the 27th of the month last 
mentioned, he was at the meeting, and as it 
progressed he was deeply interested and 
engaged. On the night of the 28th he was 
present at the meeting again. Almost every 
night was a season of great rejoicing. A 
short time before this he had been talking 
to his mother at home about uniting with 
the church, and on this last mentioned night, 
when the doors of the church were opened, 
his own father had the blessed and happy 
privilege of grasping his dear little hand and 
taking him into the church as the twenty- 
fifth recruit from the Middleton meeting. It 
is our firm belief, that whatever of conver- 
sion might have been necessary in his case 
took place there and then, for he assured us 
ail, as much as we needed to be assured, 
that in addition to joining the church, he 
had given himself and his heart to God ; and 
that his sins were forgiven. Had he died 
without mentioning anything of this kind, I 
am persuaded we would have felt perfectly 



44 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 

at ease about his future state, as though an 
infant had gone to rest ; "for of such," the 
blessed Savior has declared, " is the King- 
dom of Heaven." But the exercise of his 
mind and heart gave convincing evidence 
that he understood these deep things, that 
he communed with God, and that he pos- 
sessed love, joy and peace sent down from 
heaven. He was just as happy as he could 
be. He literally sung the old year out, and 
the new one in. One of his happy songs at 
this time was this : 

I gave my heart to Jesus, 
I gave my heart to Jesus, 
I gave my heart to Jesus, 
I'm on my way. 

Good news gone to Canaan, 
Good news gone to Canaan, 
Good news gone to Canaan, 
I'm on my way. 

I feel a good deal better, 

I feel a good deal better, 

I feel a good deal better, 

I'm on my way. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 45 



CHAPTER Xfr. 

I think a brother and a sister will long re- 
member this departed loved one on account, 
both of the fact that he always so loved them, 
and of the deep interest he lately manifested 
in them that they might speedily be brought 
to Christ. He would talk to Edwin, who 
was at home and was attending the meetings ; 
and would write to Lilly, who was away. 
And oh ! the loving, touching and tender 
appeals, that he would speak, and look, and 
write ; and we earnestly trust that the little 
weapons of his warfare, will at a very early 
day, and at that great day, prove through 
God to have been mighty ones ; that an 
entire and undivided family may meet around 
the throne of God. He prayed in secret 
especially for the speedy conversion of these 
two, and he seemed to feel that the most 
proper place for him to pray for his brother 
was up stairs in that brother's room. And 



46 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

there, for several days, -he kneeled down 
often and prayed while the brother was at 
school. After he would pray he would get 
up, walk the floor, and sing these words : 

Oh! brother, will you meet me, 

Oh ! brother, will you meet me, 

Oh! brother, will you meet me, 

On Canaan's happy shore? 

And then the next strain would be : 

Oh ! sister, will you meet me, etc. 

Oh ! that they both could have just over- 
heard him in these exercises ! But we must 
commit all these things into the hands of 
Him who doeth all things well ; hoping his 
childlike, though very true and earnest 
Christian efforts, will be crowned with the 
best and most glorious consequences. May, 
O ! may the Lord of heaven take us, take us 
all, and lead us by His most gracious Spirit 
towards that goodly land. His fears seemed 
to be considerable towards the evening of 
Sabbath, the 29th of December, lest his 
mother would think the exposure too great 
for him to attend the meeting that night ; 
seemingly, more deeply concerned than ever. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 47 

Through the day he had prayed, if possible, 
more fervently for his brother's conversion 
than at any time before, and desired to go 
that night, as he told his mother, "to see 
Edwin converted." Well, he wns allowed 
to go, and when persons were called to come 
to the altar, as seekers for the prayers and 
instructions of the Church, as strange as it 
appeared to others and as new as that kind 
of work was to himself, the timid and bash- 
ful little form pressed through the congrega- 
tion till he reached his brother, and then 
with a full heart he plead with him. But 
why was it ? Oh ! why was it ? Mortals may 
never know why he was not permitted that 
night, that very night, or that very hour, to 
realize the full gratification of his little 
heart's desire and prayer to God. He made 
his way back, but, oh ! such a look of mixed 
sorrow, love and pity as he carried on his 
face is seldom seen, till he reached his 
mother and covered his face in her dress, 
because Eddie did not come. 

Before leaving home he had carefully se- 
lected a hymn and requested me to use it for 



48 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

an opening song, and it was all looking to 
the one special purpose. While this was be- 
ing read and sung his interest was intense. 
He would listen to the expressive words, 
then look at Edwin, then at me, and then at 
his ma, " beholding," as it were, "the chain 
of love combining all below, so fair, so 
sweet, and withal so sensitive," and "point- 
ing to all above;" and I pray that it may 
deeply impress the heart of every uncon- 
verted reader. 

O ! do not let the word depart, 

And close thine eyes against the light; 

Poor sinner, harden not thy heart ; 
Thou wouldst be saved — why not to-night? 

To-morrow's sun may never rise, 

To bless thy long- deluded sight; 
This is the time ! O, then be wise ! 

Thou wouldst be saved — why not to-night? 

The world has nothing left to give — 

It has no new, no pure delight; 
O, try the life which Christians live! 

Thou wouldst be saved — why not t(5-night? 

Our God in pity lingers still, 
And wilt thou thus His love requite? 

Renounce at length thy stubborn will, 
Thou wouldst be saved — why not to-night? 

Our blessed Lord refuses none 

Who would to Him their souls unite ; 

Then be the work of grace begun ! 
Thou wouldst be saved — why not to-night? 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 49 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Immediately after the dismission of the 
last mentioned meeting Edwin went home, 
and, in the course of half an hour, Jimmie 
and his ma went home also. There had 
been persons at the altar, and some had 
lingered to sing with them. His ma noticed 
on the way that he was deeply affected, but 
when they entered the door and he saw Ed- 
die sitting by the fire he had made in the 
stove, he could restain himself no longer. 
That darling, young and tender heart, pent 
up full of feeling and anxiety for his dear 
brother had to have relief, and he burst out 
into a loud cry, notwithstanding his earnest 
efforts to the contrary. Eddie looked at 
him with great surprise and said : "Why ! 
what is the matter, Jimmie?" But he could 
not answer ; so ma answered for him, and 
when Eddie knew the cause of his grief and 
his deep disappointment as to the result of 



50 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

the evening, he felt it ; and how could he 
help it? For he loved that little brother. 
That proved to be an arrow that sped to its 
mark. I pray God that it may not be with- 
drawn until it shall accomplish all for 
which He, in His divine wisdom and grace, 
sent it. 

But pause a moment, dear reader, and 
think ; if Eddie or if any of us had realized 
at that very moment that our lovely child 
was spending next to his last Sabbath night 
on earth, oh ! how much more we would all 
have laid it to heart. But making the best 
of it we can, since it is, and must be as it 
is, we can anyhow rejoice for this much: 
the little dying boy had the consolation that 
his brother was deeply serious ; but, 

"Lord, grant us now this one request, 
Though many things are us denied; 
That love divine may rule his brother's breast, 
And all his actions truly guide." 

I have said above that he wrote to his sis- 
ter Lilly, and he did very often ; but I 
want to give you below one of the letters 
which he wrote to her in the midst of his 
greatest religious anxiety, and here it is : 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 51 

Middleton, Wayne Co., III., Dec. 28, 187S. 

Dear Mips Lilly : — I had a very nice time on Christ- 
mas. I got a lot of apples and some candy, and ma 
got a dollar in money, a Christmas gift. Yes, we 
wrote to Eva lately. Have you heard from Nellie 
lately? We didn't get to Conference this time. I 
have not finished my scrap-book yet. 1 am pieceing 
me a quilt. I have seven blocks done. It will take 
thirty- six blocks. Ask grandma if she is surprised 
at it. We had a good meeting last night. I was 
there and I didn't go to sleep either. Three shout- 
ing at once. I hope you had a nice time Christmas, 
and I wish you a happy New Year. Tell me what 
you got Christmas. Good bye. 

From your brother, Jimmie Hobbs. 

He added to this letter the next Monday, 
December 30 (for he never wrote letters on 
the Sabbath), the following postscript: 

P. S. — I have joined the M. E. Chinch. I joined the 
28th. And I have fur about four weeks been hoping 
and praying that Eddie would do so too; but my 
prayers are not answered yet. I would be so glad if 
he would do so. And, Lilly, I have been praying for 
you and wanting you to do the same ; and then I 
would rest easy. I have been feeling so much better 
since I joined. I would feel a good deal better if you 
and Eddie would join. Oh! Lilly, do join; it would 
make you feel so much better if you would be re- 
ligious. CharMe Koot, Mrs. Haller and Mr. Youghey 
are all dead. Well, Lilly, how are you getting along 



52 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

in books? May be Eddie will join to-night; I hope 
he will. I must close. Here is a [kiss] for you Good 
bye. Jimmie Hobbs. 

On Tuesday, December 31st, he felt that 
he must give Lilly more items still, and, as 
the mail had not gone, he wrote as below : 

P. S. Number two. Lilly : — I suppose you think I 
am writing a tolerably long letter, but I have a good 
deal to tell you. When I joined the Church, I did not 
only join the Church, but I gave my heart to God. 
Twenty-six have united with the Church and thirteen 
have professed religion. Lilly, this is the way I want 
you to join the Church, and just determine in your 
heart that you will serve God the rest of your days. 
I have had one sled-ride and one sleigh-ride. Have 
you had any yet? This is Tuesday, the 31st, the last 
day of the year. We are going to hold watch-night 
meeting here. Are they going to hold one there? If 
they are give Jesus your heart, then and there. I 
can't keep from singing all the time, nearly. I never 
saw a kiss in a letter before. In P. S. number one 
you will find one in return. Send me another one. 
Help me to pray for Eddie. I will continue to pray 
for you. From your brother, 

Jimmie Hobbs. 

After he had finished writing this letter he 
said to his mother, "If I be the means of 
converting Edwin and Lilly, I will have two 
stars in my crown, won't I, ma?" She said, 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 53 

"yes, my son, and it will be a nice thing." 
But oh ! how quickly he passed away to put 
on that crown. When a few more days, or 
months, or years are com-e, may, oh ! may 
neither of these stars be lacking in the crown 
that decks that lovely brow. For four years 
he has had a beautiful crown picture hanging 
up in the house, with these words underneath 
it : "There's a croivn in Heaven for you." 
But now he wears a far more beautiful one 
in glory. 



54 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 



CHAPTER XIV. 

On Monday night, the 30th of December, 
he was at meeting once more ; and on Tues- 
day night, the 31st of December, 1878, after 
another day of earnest prayer for brother 
and sister, and pleading with Eddie, too, at 
home, he was at church again, and again 
plead with Eddie with tearful eyes and anx- 
ious heart. On this night a watch-meeting 
was held ; and this was the last congregation 
he ever met with on earth. He there under- 
standingly covenanted with other Christians, 
"For God to live and die." 

After he had joined the Church he would 
take the book of discipline and read in full 
the form of receiving persons into full con- 
nection. And he looked forward with a great 
deal of joy and gladness to the time when he 
would be so received ; but just when his 
probation had fairly begun in the Church 
militant — God took him to himself; — and re- 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 55 

ceived him — yes, into full connection — in the 
Church triumphant. Oh! God, help us all 
to meet him there. 

I have said that our little Jimmie was 
often sick. Very many were the serious 
spells of fever that we watched him through. 
Many were the times when we thought he 
would be called to leave us and we would 
have to give him up. Last spring, that is in 
the spring of 1878, he took the whooping- 
cough. It was very severe with him through 
the summer months ; and in the months fol- 
lowing everv addition of cold he would take, 
caused him to cough again, and generally 
gave him fever. 

In the month of November, 1878, he had 
a severe attack of lung-fever from which he 
got up, and from which he was just gradu- 
ally recovering when our protracted meeting 
commenced at Middleton. 

On New Year's day, which was Wednes- 
day, (as we had been invited to do, and as 
•the weather was much more moderate that 
day) we made a visit in a sleigh to a brother 
Anderson and family, about two miles south 



56 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

of our home. He was greatly pleased with 
the ride. And although he was attended 
with all possible care and warmly wrapped 
(which was always the case), we thought on 
our return that he had taken cold. Thurs- 
day, towards evening and through that night, 
he was threatened considerably with the 
croup. We treated him with our simple 
family remedies, and in the morning he was 
better. But about noon he drew that pre- 
cious little body up to the stove and said he 
felt like having a chill ; so we made a warmer 
fire and a more comfortable room. He con- 
tinued to feel badly, and his mother said to 
him about three o'clock in the afternoon, 
that perhaps it might be better for him to go 
to bed. His reply to this was, "Ma, I don't 
like to go to bed, for then I always get 
sick." But after waiting a little while 
longer he said, " Ma, I guess I will have to 
lie down." She prepared him a bed, and he 
did lie down and never was up again. This 
was the 3d day of January, 1879. He had 
fever during all that night (Friday night) 
and the next day. On Saturday, about noon, 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 57 

the doctor was called in and began to treat 
the little Christian patient. The doctor said 
that his lungs and liver were both very 
much affected, and that the whooping-cough 
was the primary cause of his present afflic- 
tion. That same afternoon Jimmie com- 
plained of his throat, and of a difficulty in 
swallowing his medicine. He had some 
fever again all through Saturday night, and 
on the following day (Sabbath) he was no 
better, but rather growing worse. In the 
after part of this day, perhaps about two or 
three o'clock, he called his mother to the 
bedside by a whisper and by a motion of the 
hand, as there were other persons in the 
room, and said to her; " Ma, if I die this 
time I wanted to tell you that I am not 
afraid to die, for you know that Jesus has 
forgiven all my sins. I just thought I would 
tell you ; but I don't want you to cry." His 
ma said, "How could I help it if I should 
lose my little boy?" "But ma," he said, 
"I don't want you to ;" and with his tender 
little hand he patted her so lovingly on the 
face. Now, how was it that he talked in this 



58 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 

way about death in this affliction, and never 

did before in all his other sickness? He 

had talked of death, but not anything like 

this. 

He must have realized some way 
That God was calling him to come « 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 59 



CHAPTEE XV. 

Thus another Sabbath night passed away, 
and it proved the very last Sabbath night of 
his earthly life. Monday came and he was 
no better, but rather worse. About three 
o'clock in the afternoon of this day he again 
called his mother to the bedside and said to 
her: "Now, ma, if I should die this time, I 
don't want you to think of me as being any 
where else but in heaven ; for I'll be there, 
and I want you to come too." And then, 
changing his voice (as was natural to him) 
into tones of pity he added these words : 
"But don't cry, ma, don't think any more 
about it now." Now, his expressions were 
not language like this, but they were pre- 
cisely this very language. And to me and 
to all who heard them, they were wonderful 
utterances. To-day his little throat ap- 
peared to be worse and a preparation was 
made with which we began to wash it. 
Tuesday morning he was without fever, and 



60 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

our hopes began to be considerably revived ; 
yet he was very weak. w This day he took 
some nourishment, but coughed and had 
great difficulty in spitting out what he cough- 
ed up. He did not seem to have any very 
sharp or severe suffering, but for the last 
three or four days he would often say : "I'm 
so tired, O, I'm so tired." When asked 
where he was tired, he would say: "O, all 
over." Before day and for an hour after 
day, in the morning of Wednesday, the 8th 
of January, he seemed to rest well. But 
when he awoke from his sleep he was flighty. 
He continued more or less so throughout the 
day, but at night he was very quiet again. 
But then it was that we saw and realized 
that his last night was commenced. The 
room was full of anxious friends that night, 
and oh ! such kind iriends. And the lines, 
and the work of the destroyer were so 
plainly seen in that sweet little tender face ; 
and oh ! how terribly crushing to the heart 
and feelings is the first real perception of 
this kind. Lord, be our helper ! About 
eight or nine o'clock, his mother, realizing 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. ' 61 

his true situation, said to him: "My dear 
little Jimmie, did you know that Jesus was 
coining for you soon?" He replied, "No, 
ma." Then, after waiting a moment or two, 
as if thinking it all over to himself, he said, 
"Well, ma ; what must I do to get ready — 
just as I would to go to bed?" In that 
moment of deep feeling, hardly knowing 
what to answer, she impulsively said, "I 
suppose so." "Well, ma," he said, "take 
oft* my waist, then.'' 

For an hour or two after this, the moments 
were tilled up with that innocent and gentle 
little "oh!" A sweet, dove-like, but very 
piercing moan to the loving hearts around 
and bending over him ; and then it was nearly 
every breath, and, "I'm so tired." 

I said to him now, for he was perfectly at 
himself, and had been for some time and 
continued so the end. "You are pa's little 
Christian child, ain't you, sonny?" And 
just such a sweet and plain little "Yes, 
sir," as was breathed forth. I seem to 
hear it often yet. "You love Jesus, don't 
you?" I continued. "Yes, sir," he 



62 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

answered. "And you know that Jesus loves 
you?" I said, "Yes, sir," he replied. He 
afterwards kissed his pa and ma and 
brother good-bye, and left a farewell word 
for his absent sister, who was staying with 
her grandmother in Chester, and going, to 
school. It was now a little after midnight of 
Wednesday night, and he spoke to his mother 
when all around were waiting and watching 
ill silence; "Ma, come, let us go home." 
She said, "Why, vVe are at home, my dear 
little boy." "But ma," he said, "this is 
only our earthly home." "Yes, I know 
that," she said. "Well then," said he, 
"come on ; let us go." His mother and her 
little Jimmie had several times, when he was 
well, talked about dying, and about going to 
heaven, and had agreed that it would be very 
pleasant and happy for them to die at the 
same time, and go to heaven together. So 
presently he said to her again, apparently 
realizing that the end was approaching: 
"Come on, ma; let us go; oh! ma; why 
don't you come on?" She answered him : 
"I cannot go now, my little dear pet, for 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 63 

Jesus has not called me yet ; but ma will go 
with her boy just as far as she can, and 
Jesus will go with you the rest of the way." 
A few moments more, and he said to her : 
"Ma, He's coming." She asked him who 
it was that was coming. He said/ "Jesus is 
coming, just now." 

The eyes of all the friends who were not 
just overcome for sleep and with sleep, were 
fixed upon him, and were suffused with tears ; 
and all were astonished at his language, his 
breathing had neither grown short or diffi- 
cult ; and the common impression was that 
he Ayould linger five or six hours yet, or till 
the morning, and gradually sink down until 
he would be gone. But, oh ! how different 
it did occur ! If it would not be wrong, I 
would say : "Would that we could have fore- 
seen the manner of the end." But, oh ! how 
amazing ! In a moment of stillness, and a 
moment of suspense and anxiety on the part 
of all the watchers, he spoke once more, and 
only once more on earth, and said: "Ma, 
I'm going Home." He lifted his little eyes 
and hands upward towards heaven ; he 



64 



THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 



caught a glimpse of its beauties ; his ears 
listened, as though saluted by a new sound ; 
and then, quicker than earthly thought, his 
body leaped and bounded clear up from' the 
bed twice ; his little face was lit up with the 
brightest glory ; his whole being was appar- 
ently thrilled with a heavenly influence, and 
gazing straight into heaven with a trembling 
and lengthened "Oo-o-o-o-o !" he lighted 
very mysteriously in his mother's arm°s, as 
•she was sitting on the bedside ; gasped twice, 
and was gone in a moment of time from 
his last words. It was one o'clock, after 
midnight. The light faded sp quickly from 
his face, and as it went he seemed to give 
a last, hasty, withdrawing, and most glor- 
iously smiling look upon us, and was no 
more on earth—the clay sank down so fast. 
As the spirit went out of the body it ap- 
peared to all that beheld the strange sight, 
that the little body made an effort to°fly 
away as the pure spirit fled away, or that 
the spirit was unwilling to leave the tene- 
ment behind. He hardly seemed to die • 
but from the strength of his sufferings and 






LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 65 

moanings, and talking with his earthly 
friends, he just leaped into glory in a moment 
of time, leaving amazement pictured on every 
lace and felt in every heart. All testified 
that they never saw such a death. 

With so great an earthly loss, we never 
before saw so much of heaven. The an- 
gelic and glorious brightness of the room 
and of that little face, and the whole ap- 
pearance was like a wondrous sweep of an- 
gels down from glory, that kissed away the 
soul of our precious, much-beloved, lamb- 
like little one. And he went sweeping away, 
truly 

"Sweeping through the gates to the new Jerusalem, 
Washed in the blood of the lamb.'' 



"66 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 



CHAPTER XVL 

Glory be to God ! 

"There is a world above 

Where parting is unknown; 
A whole eternity of love, 

Formed for the good alone ; 
And faith beholds the dying here 
Translated to that happier spheie. 

Thus star by star declines, 

Till all are passed away, 
As morning high and higher shines, 

To pure and perfect day ; 
Nor sink those stars in empty night; 
They hide themselves in heaven's own light." 

" Death," it is said, "loves a shining 
mark." O ! friends and acquaintances of our 
precious one, did it not find such an one in 
this case? And is it not hard to give up on 
earth the companionship of one so gentle 
and loving, so engaging and bright? But 
there is a consolation, which comes rolling- 
out of Paradise, and over the tops of the 
mountains, and clown the stream of time, 
of divine origin. Let us hear it: "He 
shall gather the lambs with His arm, and 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 67 

carry them in His bosom." And we have 
consoling lessons, sweetly true, coming from 
the poet's pen ; as an instance of the last, 
mark the two verses above. "One hope 
unclouded yet remains" to us. In his little 
"Daily Bread" book, from which he read 
as daily food, we find the sweet Scripture 
promise for January 9th, the first hour of 
which day he departed this life, to be this : 
"When thou passest through the waters, 1 
will be with thee ; and through the riv- 
ers, they shall not overflow thee." — Isaiah 
xliii, 2. 

Ah! beloved friends, it is true. He has 
passed through the waters of the river of 
death, and God was with him, so visibly as 
not to be misunderstood. And He has borne 
him up on high. Dear reader, after such a 
life, and such a death in our family, so full 
of wonder and of glory, and the sad hearts 
that are left behind, for the vacancy it has 
made, I cannot help subjoining some of his 
own selections, to be found in his scrap-book, 
because they seem to show how very thought- 
fully he was for many months, and even 



68 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 

years, looking forward to just such an hour 
and just such a scene as has so recently 
passed by us. And they now come to us 
with a meaning that they never possessed 
before. Here is one : 

u When faith and patience, hope and love, 
Have made me meet for heaven above; 
How blest the privilege to rise, 
Snatched, in a moment, to the skies; 
Unconscious to resign my breath, 
Nor taste the bitterness of death, 
Such be my lot, Lord, if it please, 
To die in silence, and at ease; 
But if Thy wisdom sees it best, 
To turn Thine ear from this request, 
If sickness be the appointed way, 
To waste this frame of human clay; 
If worn with grief and racked with pain, 
This earth must turn to earth again, 
Then let the angels round me stand ; 
Support me by Thy powerful hand. 
Let not my faith and patience move, 
Nor ought abate my hope or love, 
But brighter may my graces shine, 
Till they're absorbed, in light divine.' ' 

This was every word literally verified in 
his death, except that he resigned his breath 
in perfect consciousness, and seemed to say 
farewell to us by an instant smile that came 
upon his face, and death left it there. It 
seeiped like he knew that the suddenness and 
grandeur of his final flight from the earth 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 69 

had astonished the beholders, and was look- 
ing back (as he ascended) at our surprise, 
and smiled. Here is a second one : 

"But the angels softly, softly, 
Called our darling to that shore, 

Where the tree of life is growing, 
And all is brightness evermore." 

And here a third : 

"When our earthly life is ended, 
And our earthly mission done, 

We shall go across the river, 
At the setting of the sun. 

And in God's celestial mansions, 
Clothed in garments strangely fair, 

We shall know the bliss of heaven : • 
We shall 'meet each other there." 

I will give just this one more, because the 
theme of "watching and waiting" on the 
other shore, which is the title of it, seemed 
to be a favorite one with him. And when he 
was alone with his mother, and they were 
often alone, he would frequently talk to her, 
and with her, about it ; and to her he would 
often read such pieces as I here insert : 

WATCHING AND WAITING AT THE GATE. 

"Let me go ! for the morning is breaking, 
Let me go ! I no longer can wait ; 

I'll away to the land of the living, 1 
Where I'll watch for you all at the gate. 



70 THE LITTLE PEEACHER ; OR, 

I would stay, but the Master is calling, 
And the future is not a dark fate; 

No, the 'Land of the Leal' is most radiant, 
But ril wait for you all at the gate. 

I would linger with dear ones around me, 
For my heart love was never so great, 

Yet the love of my Jesus constraineth, 
But I'll wait for you all at the gate. 

When your sun, darling ones, shall be setting, 

And shadows shall tell it is late ; 
When the Master shall call, on that evening, 

I'll greet you, each one, at the gate." 

Ah ! it is true, as the poet has said : 
' 'Death enters and there's no defence." We 
could not prevent his going, and at that early 
morning hour he went. In that bright land 
of the living he is waiting for us that still 
linger on this side of the river. He is wait- 
ing and we are waiting ; he, for our coming, 
and we for the Master's call. As he waits 
he basks in the noontide sunlight of glory ; 
while we, as we wait, meditate, ruminate, 
ponder and are sad on this dark earth of 
sorrow, made so by sin. He, the darling of 
the household, seemed too bright for such a 
world, and the Lord removed him to a higher 
and holier habitation. The sweet prattle and 
warble, and the accustomed moving to and 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 71 

fro of that dear form are heard and seen no 
longer. But in place of these, he is singing 
the song of Moses and the Lamb, and in that 
place of ineffable joy, for anything we can 
now know, may be flying on heavenly wings 
around the throne. 



c 



72 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 



CHAPTER XVII. 

In the days that are left us, friendly 
reader, we can take up the little scrap-book 
(among a score of various other things) 
prepared and arranged by those little tender 
departed hands, and we can read with a de- 
gree of sweet consolation such a selection as 
this that he used so often to read with a 
great deal of pleasure : 

There is no sweeter story told 

In all the blessed book, 
Than how the Lord within His arms 

The little children took. 

We love Him for the tender touch 

That made the leper whole, 
And for the wondrous words that healed 

The tired, sin-sick soul. 

But closer to His loving heart 

Our human hearts are brought, 
When for the little children 's sake 

Love's sweetest spell is wrought. 

For their young eyes His sorrowing face 

A smile of gladness wore ; 
A smile that for His little ones 

It weareth evermore. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 73 

The voice that silenced priest and scribe 

For them grew low and sweet, 
And still for them His gentle lips 

The loving words repeat : 

"Forbid them not!" O, blessed Christ! 
We bring them unto Thee, 
And pray that on their heads may rest 
Thy benedicite! 

Or such as this : 

"Though mighty deeds by right 
From older folks are due, 
Yet little ones should try 
Some good, at least, to do. 

The gentle child, though small, 

May little favors show, 
And loving words to all 

From infant lips may flow." 

Or this : 

u In books, or work, or healthful play, 

Let my first years be past, 
That I may give for every day 

A good account at last. 
Tn works of labor, or of skill, 

I would be busy too ; 
For Satan finds some mischief still 

For idle hands to do." 

A few days after the death of our little 
Jimmie a little neighbor girl by the name of 
Minnie, a bright Christian child of ten years, 
who had just recovered from a spell of 
serious sickness before he died, was reading 
and came to this verse : 



74 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

"Why my little life extend 
And put off its hasting end? 
'Tis a shadow flitting by, 
Cast by sunshine in the sky." 

And she, lifting her eyes from the page, 
said to her mother : " That verse suits my 
case." She then read on further until she 
came to these words, which she read with 
great care : 

"Gladly, then, I pass away, 
Welcome high and cloudless day ; 

Day without a getting sun, 
Years eternally begun. 

In that sky is better life, 
Where no chilly shades are rife ; 

And through all the constant range, 
Joy to joy, its only change." 

And then said : "And these, ma, just suit 
little Jimmie Hobbs." And when her ma 
told it to us, how truly we did think they 
suited his case, and hers the former ones, 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 75 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

When little Jimmie would be reading in 
the Bible some verses would so impress his 
mind that he would draw a pencil mark 
around them. Such verses are numerous. I 
ought to give some specimens : 

"A wise son maketh a glad father ; but a 
foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." 
Prov. x, 1. 

"I love them that love Me ; and those that 
seek Me early shall find Me." Prov. viii, 17. 

4 'Keep thy heart with all diligence; for 
out of it are the issues of life." Prov. iv, 23. 

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He 
shall'sustain thee. He shall never suffer the 
righteous to be moved." Psalm lv, 22. 

"O, Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; 
but in Me is thine help." Hosea xii, 9. 

"For I will pour water upon him that is 
thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground ; I 
will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My 
blessing upon thy offspring." Isa, xliv, 3. 



76 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

Our Jimmie was a lover of the beautiful. 
He was delighted with natural scenery. He 
admired flowers. He was pleased when, on 
a beautiful spring or summer day, he could 
traverse the woods over hills and hollows, 
with some of the family for company, in 
search of them ; or when in the garden or yard 
he could plant or cultivate them, or gather 
them in bouquets, or press them into wreaths. 
When driving along the road, if his little eye 
fell upon a lovely wild flower, it was very 
painful to him to have to pass it, and many 
times has our buggy come to a halt to gather 
them for him. He loved to hear the organ 
or the piano, and was highly gratified to visit 
his Aunt Mary, or his cousins after their 
mother died, and hear them play the piano. 

He talked a great deal and planned a great 
deal how, after a while, he would build a 
large house, and provide for the future com- 
fort and keeping of his father and mother 
when feeble age came on. He said we should 
live below on the first floor, for it. would be 
too hard for us to climb the stairs then ; but 
his room would be up stairs. Well, truly, 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 77 

we are dwelling below and his room is now 
above, in that great "house not made with 
(his little) hands, but eternal in the 
heavens." 

Little Jimmie (for indeed he was little all 
his life, his weight never having gone above 
forty-six pounds) would often say what he 
expected to do when he became rich. But 
coming across this verse of Scripture one 
day: "But they that will be rich fall into 
temptation and a snare, and into many fool- 
ish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in 
destruction and perdition." I. Tim. vi, 9. 
He was never heard to talk of being rich 
after this. But showing this Scripture to his 
mother he said: "JSTow, Til never be rich. 
I never want to be rich." 

His knowledge of places and routes of 
travel was very surprising. He would trace 
them even around the world, and in his 
imagination go round it himself, too. He 
learned the map of the United States nearly 
by heart in the last six months, and could 
bound and locate every state and territory 
in the Union ; and just seemed to grasp the 
idea of the earth's circuit. 



78 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

The poet has said : 

"O, that iny tender soul might fly, 
The first abhorred approach ox ill, 

Quick as the apple of an eye, 
The slightest touch of sin to feel!" 

And in these words he has described very 
closely the nature of our little boy. When 
he had done any little wrong act, or had 
thought wrong, or felt wrong, or had spoken 
an angry word, he was unhappy until he had 
told his ma about it and prayed to God 
about it, and felt that both had forgiven 
him ; and then he was joyous as before. 

His mother remembers but one time in his 
life when he stated what was not true, and a 
mother's memory, I am persuaded, is not 
bad on such a point as this. At first she 
thought his statement was true, but presently 
he came to her very sad, and said : "Ma, it 
wasn't the way I told you." And then he 
hesitated and the tears came into his eyes 
and he said : "I did do that, ma." "What 
do you say, Jimmie?" she inquired. He 
said: "Ma, I told you a story ;" and he put 
his arms round her neck and begged to be 
forgiven, and cried aloud. O such repent- 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 79 

ance as this will bring forgiveness. She 
forgave him ; and so did God, for he asked 
him to, with a broken heart. And then our 
little one was happy again. I do bless God 
for a child with such a heart. 

When I think of the delight he took in 
hearing an instrument of music, and # hie 
desire again to hear his cousins play theirs, 
which desire was not gratified in this life, I 
am partly relieved when I take up a Christ- 
mas gift he left me and read on it this 
verse; he chose it himself: 

"Soon we'll join in the song which the angels sing 

As they stand on the heavenly plain. 
Soon we'll play on a harp with a golden string, 
And the height of the heaveoly vault shall ring 

With the praise of a Savior slain." 

When I think of the two stars he desired 
and strove to win for his immortal crown I 
bow my knee and lift my heart to God in 
prayer that this book, an humble though 
true history of his sweet life, may go out 
and win many precious souls to Christ and 
heaven, both that their joy may be full to 
all eternity,, and that his little crown may be 
set glistening full of stars. Go thou, dear 



80 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

reader, and win souls for your Savior and 
stars for your crown. His mother, since 
we have given up our Jimmie, has neither 
father nor mother, ^brother nor sister, son 
nor daughter left in this world, but she has 
a bright hope that all of them are safely 
housed in heaven. She says : 

"They are all gone into a world of light, 
And I alone sit lingering here ; 
Their very memory is fair and bright, 
And my sad thoughts and feelings cheer." 



*She has, however, a half -brother and sister. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS, 81 



CHAPTER XIX. 

His brother Edwin when away on a visit 
to Chester wrote in a family letter these few 
words for little Jimmie : 

Tell Jimmie to watch the mails closely, because he 
might receive something by so doing. But be care- 
ful that it does not bite him. Your brother 

Edwin Hobbs. 

He was greatly pleased at this intelligence 
and very anxiously visited the post office till 
he received a beautiful little watch, which, 
on applying the thumb to a spring, could 
be set in motion and strike. This was a 
daily companion, and considered a great 
keep-sake from his dear brother. The 
watch is now given to Eddie again as a pre- 
cious memorial of the one that is gone. 

In the Central Christian Advocate of 
February 5th, 1879, the following obituary 
appeared : 



82 THE LITTLE PREACHER; OR, 

Died. — At Preacher's home, in Middleton, Wayne 
county, Illinois, of lung fever, Jinimie Hobbs, January 
9th, 1879, aged 8 years, 5 months and 12 days. He 
was a Bible reader for four and a half years, and a 
ripe Christian child. He was certainly guided by the 
counsel of God, and is now received into glory. He 
gave himself to God and joined the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church six days before his last illness, and was 
happy. He said he was ready to die and go home to 
heaven. He was the son of James and Lizzie Hobbs, 
of the Southern niinois Conference. 

A few days after the notice of his death 
appeared in the paper, this letter was re- 
ceived from Rev. Joseph Harris, Presiding 
Elder of my district and a great friend of 
the "little preacher," as he very often called 
him, and which was a very common and 
familiar name for him by visitors and 
friends : 

Dear Brother Hobbs : — I have just read in the Central, 
to my great surprise, of the death of your dear little 
boy. You have my sympathy in your great and sad 
bereavement. It will be your loss, but the infinite 
gain of your dear child . He was too good and smart for 
this world, so God took him. May you be resigned 
to the will of God, and comfort your hearts in the 
assurance that you can go to him. Give my kindest 
regards to Sister Hobbs. May the Lord sustain and 
comfort her. God bless you all. 

I am yours ever, J. Harris. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 83 

Two days later we received the following 
from Brother J. B. Thompson, of Southern 
Illinois Conference, stationed at McLeans- 
boro', Hamilton county, Illinois: 

Dear Brother Hobbs : — Let me now greet you in the 
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and let me bow low 
with you in submission to the will of our Heavenly 
Father, who doeth all things well. 1 have just noticed 
in the Central the fearful trial you have been called 
on to pass .through in the death of our precious little 
Jimmie. You won't be offended, will you, Brother 
Hobbs, when I say our Jimmie? My own dear wife 
and children, as well as myself, love to remember dear 
little Jimmie so well, that his name is a household 
word with us. I cannot tell you what a pang went 
through my heart as I read that the dear little angel 
boy had gone home. I can look upon the dear little 
one in no other light than as a saint for his holiness, a 
believer for his faith, a brother for his feUowship, and 
a disciple for his knowledge. On reading the little 
notice of your bereavement, my wife said: "That is 
not enough to be said about that dear little boy." I 
replied, I will write immediately and ask Brother 
Hobbs and his wife all the facts so that I can present 
a sketch of Jimmie' s life and. death to the Central for 
publication. So, if you would be willing, please write 
me some of the many facts in his interesting life ; 
such as his pious mind, his studious habits, his Bibli- 
cal knowledge, and any fact of interest in the habits 
and practice of his life; also, his precise age and the 
particulars of his illness and death. 



84 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

Glory be to God for salvation for our children! 
May God bless you abundantly and sustain you in 
this and in all trials. Please answer. My wife joins 
me in kindest Christian love to you all. 
Yours in Jesus, 

J. B. Thompson. 

Soon after Jimmie's death we received the 
following poem from a lady friend who was 
very highly esteemed by him as well as by 
us all. 

LINES ON THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 

I gazed on a bright and beautiful flower, 

I marked its delicate hues, 
It grew as if tended by heavenly power 

And bathed in heavenly dews. 
I gazed on this plant of heavenly birth, 

And saw, and felt, its spirit's worth. 

I dared not clasp it, though much inclined, 

As it grew in love's pure sun, 
Lest my loving touch should seem unkind, 

And " offend this little one;" 
For I saw it was frail as its beauty was rare, 

An exotic that needed the tenderest care. 

I saw, when the rude blast of winter was near, 
And the snow her soft mantle had given, 

But I saw that it's beauty was radiant and clear 
As if 'twas reflected from heaven. 

But an angel was sent to sever its ties 
And transplant this bright flower to a home 
in the skies. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 85 

Then I wept that its beauty no more I might see, 
While encumbered with this earthly clod; 

But I smile when I think what its glory must be 
In its home in the palace of God. 

And O, while I live in this sad world of woe, 
I long to be fitted beside it to grow. 

—Mrs. Zettie Greathouse. 

We committed the remains of our precious 
one to the silent tomb in the graveyard at 
Chester, Randolph county, Illinois, a hun- 
dred miles from the place of his death. We 
conveyed them there mostly for the reason 
that Lilly was there, as I have already stated, 
that she mio;ht see the darling form one time 
more, though it was hard for her to see him 
and not hear him speak one more word to 
her. The word he left with us for her was 
all she could hear: "Tell her good-bye." 
But he will speak again. He will have an- 
other greeting for us all. 

Where all the ship's company meet 

Who have sailed with the Savior on earth, 

With shouting each other they'll greet, 
And triumph o'er sorrow and death. 

Hallelujah to God for the triumph ! May 
we all meet there. 

After we returned home from the burial 
and had written to our daughter, we received 



86 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

an answer from her that seems worthy of a 
place in this small volume. It is as follows : 

Chester, III., Jan. 31, 1879. 
Dear Parents and only Brother; — It is with a sad, 
lonesome and homesick heart that I seat myself to 
answer your long-looked-for letter, which came at 
last. One lonesome card instead of the letter, en- 
closed with another little darling letter from the little 
hands which will never write again. No little letter 
comes now to cheer the lonesome hours that drag so 
heavily. No; the little form lies silent in the grave; 
and when I think of the three long weary weeks that 
have passed since we looked on him last, and look 
forward to the long years of the future without him, 
my heart sinks within me. I almost imagine I see 
the little form at home as he used to be. It all seems 
like a dream to me; but when I think of the little 
new-made grave in yonder graveyard, and the three 
lonesome, waiting hearts around the table, and the 
fire at home, the little vacant chair, those idle books 
and playthings, and that lonesome kitty. Ah! it 
flashes then upon my mind that it is too true. He 
visits me in my dreams every night. And at night- 
fall when I sit down to reflect on the great change 
that has taken place in our family, I fancy I almost 
see him here on earth again. At other times I almost 
see him in heaven, at the right hand of God. I 
dreamed the other night that 1 too was called home 
and the first one I saw was darling Jimmie. I awoke 
overpowered at the idea of meeting him so soon. I 
have only wished that it might have been true, in- 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 87 

stead of a dream. Another night I dreamed that he 
stood by my bedside in his angel robes. I embraced 
him, weeping, and said: "Oh! have you come back, 
dear Jimmie?" At the sound of my voice he waved 
his hand towards heaven and vanished. Oh ! will he 
never return? I am going to the graveyard to-mor- 
row, February 1st. The roads have been so muddy 
and bad I have not been there yet, but I can stay 
away no longer. Oh J how little did I think the last 
time I saw him that he would never speak to me 
again. He kissed me good-bye, but his little eyes 
filled with tears and his heart was too full to speak. 
I can see him yet as he turned away from the buggy, 
and, alas! from his sister for the last time. I still see 
him as he walked up the road towards home. I have 
often thought, since then, that if we only could know 
when the last kiss and embrace were given, when we 
parted from those we love, how much longer the em- 
brace and how much dearer the kiss would be! But 
all these things are hidden from our knowledge. 

Well, to-morrow is my only brother's birthday. 
Nineteen years old to-morrow. He will miss the little 
celebration. No birthday celebration for you, Eddie, 
to-morrow. Jimmie is gone where it is one grand 
celebration all the time.* 

It is so hard to think of closing this letter without 
writing the usual little one to Jimmie; but I have 
written a long letter and will look for a long one in 
return from all of you. 

Yours truly and affectionately. Farewell. 

Lilly Hobbs. 



*Jimmie's custom was to celebrate all our birthdays. 



88 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 



CHAPTER XX. 

Before the burial, which took place on 
Sabbath, January 12th, a funeral sermon 
was preached at 11 o'clock in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, in Chester, by Brother 
M. P. Wilkin, from James iv, 14, and sec- 
ond clause: "For what is your life?" A 
very interesting and appropriate discourse 
was preached from these words. The ques- 
tion, "What is life?" was shown to be much 
more important than the question, "What 
is death?" so often asked by curious minds. 

Life was defined to be our stay on earth. 
Further, the stay of responsible beings in a 
state of probation. And, further still, the 
period of the soul and body's union on earth, 
or the period between birth and death. It 
was shown that the measure of lite was not 
numbered by days and months and years, 
but by the activity, diligence, zeal and con- 
stancy of the person, and the number of 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 89 

important events crowded into that period, 
or the contrary. The conversion of children, 
quite young, was spoken of, not only as a 
fact, but as a grand and glorious fact. 
Brother Wilkin said he believed that many 
of these little ones were soundly converted 
to God when the only altar at which they 
had ever bowed was their mother's knee. 
And my heart said, Amen. He said: "Of 
course there had not been that great rending 
of the vail of the temple, because there had 
not been such a cloud of actual sin. But 
there was just as sure a turning to God and 
just as true a laying hold of salvation, by 
faith in Christ." 

The congregation sang the nine hundred 
and seventy-ninth hymn. 

Asleep in Jesus! blessed sleep, 

From which none ever wakes to weep! 

A calm and undisturbed repose, 
Unbroken by the last of foes. 

Asleep in Jesus ! O how sweet, 

To be for such a slumber meet ! 
With holy confidence to sing. 

That death hath lost his venomed sting. 



90 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 

Asleep in Jesus ! peaceful rest, 
Whose waking is supremely blest! 

No fear, no woe, shall dim that hour, 
That manifests the Saviour's power. 

Asleep in Jesus ! O for me, 

May such a blissful refuge be ! 
Securely shall my ashes lie, 

Waiting the summons from on high. 

Asleep in Jesus! far from thee, 
Thy kindred and their graves may be ; 

But thine is still a blessed sleep, 

From which none ever wakes to weep. 

I will now just add what I deemed an ap- 
propriate closing piece, in the shape of a 
poetical farewell to a family by a depart- 
ing one ; and their response to the same, in 
a united voice. 

THE DEPARTING ONE. 

"Farewell to all the scenes of childhood, 
To all on earth I bid adieu; 
For I am going up to Eden, 
Where brighter scenes I soon shall view. 

Farewell! farewell! my loving father, 
I'm passing o'er the Jordan now; 

But Jesus, He is going with me, 
And soon before His throne I'll bow. 

Farewell, my mother, loving mother, 

You'll miss your sonny here, I know ; 
Bur, mother dear, I'll be in heaven, 
For to my Savior I shall go. 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 91 



Farewell, my loving brother, sister, 
I know you -11 miss my presence here ; 

And when you gather round the hearthstone, 
You'll see my little vacant chair. 

But gather up my toys, dear mother, 
You'll put them all away I know ; 

And when your happy voices mingle, 
Let not a tear of sorrow flow. 

Kemember, when I've gone to heaven, 
That I'll be standing at the gate ; 

I'll walk beside the peaceful river, 
And for you all I'll watch and wait. 

THE GRIEVING ONES IN RESPONSE. 

Farewell! dear darling, till the meeting, 

When w^e'll strike hands to part no more ; 
And far beyond the reach of sorrow, 
We meet y r ou on that peaceful shore. 



92 THE LITTLE PREACHER ; OR, 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CONCLUSION. 

I thought I might be allowed to add a short 
appeal to the larger part of the readers of 
this book. I will begin by asking, "Where 
is he who used to lisp, 'father, mother' — 
thy child?" Passing out of your hands or 
our hands, passed he not into the hands of 
Jesus? Perhaps you have a brother or a 
sister in heaven that should draw you there. 
Perhaps a mother who wept as she watched 
over you, and then grew sick and died. A 
father worn with hard toil for your support 
at last went up to glory. Or nearer still, 
a husband, a wife, now among the angels. 
O ! these are among the small attractions of 
heaven. They are increasing constantly 
a>nd earth is losing. They cannot return to 
us, but w T e may go to them. Now, will we 
do this! Yes — no — which is it? Dear 
reader, are you to-day a sinner? Then I 
beseech you trifle no longer with Christ and 



LIFE OF JIMMIE HOBBS. 93 

your soul. Time, so short and uncertain, is 
speeding away. The only period in which 
the Son of man has power to forgive sins. 
If the rest of your life pass as it has thus 
far, what bitter reflections will follow. Sal- 
vation gone ! Heaven lost ! Harvest past ! 
Summer ended ! and you not saved ! Con- 
sider this day. Enter your closet, shut to 
the door, confess your sins. Implore mercy 
from God through Christ. Believe and be 
saved. 

If you are a Christian, then from this day 
let it be your great object to get an entirely 
holy heart, a renewed and right spirit. 
You are bearing fruit, but let God purge 
you that you, being perfectly pure, may bear 
much fruit. Make now a full and complete 
consecration, exercise now a complete trust 
in a perfect Savior for an entire cleansing — 
an entire sanctification, and go on your 
heavenly way, "Bejoicing evermore, pray- 
ing without ceasing," and, "In everything 
giving thanks," and the blessing of God 
will be upon you. 

THE END. 



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